Apparatus particularly for the removal of the upper expansion layer from open casting moulds in the manufacture of porous light-weight concrete



July 28, 1959 K. G. OLSSON 2,396,298

APPARATUS PARTICULARLY FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE UPPER EXPANSION LAYER FROMOPEN CASTING MOULDS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF POROUS LIGHT-WEIGHT CONCRETEFiled Nov. 17, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 M A m July 28, 1959 G. OLSSON2,896,298

. APPARATUS PARTICULARLY FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE UPPER EXPANSION LAYERFROM OPEN CASTING MOULDS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF POROUS LIGHT-WEIGHTCONCRETE Filed Nov. 17. 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 [NViNIOR [641m 6. Owazvfimw}- ATTORNEY July 28, 1959 K. G. OLSSON 2,896,298

APPARATUS PARTICULARLY FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE UPPER EXPANSION LAYER FROMOPEN CASTING MOULDS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF POROUS LIGHT-WEIGHT CONCRETEFiled Nov. 17, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 MIYZOK K1121, & OJZSSQV.

ATTORNEY July 28, 1959 K. G. OLSSON 2,896,298

APPARATUS PARTICULARLY FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE UPPER EXPANSION LAYER FROMOPEN CASTING MOULDS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF POROUS LIGHT-WEIGHT CONCRETEFiled Nov. 17. 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 wauwmuuwwwmwww! l 28 2a A 4 r 22llllllilllllIHIIl|flIlllIIIIllIll|IllIllI!"ll!lHflllllllllllllllllllflllllllmllllllllllllilllllllllIl||||nf11t::"..., lIIIhIII/II/IIIIII/IIIl/IIIII/gWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/llfli... I"!

LVVEIVTOR. fiOzsscw AT TORHEY United States APPARATUS PARTICULARLY FORTHE REMOVAL OF THE UPPER EXPANSION LAYER FROM OPEN CASTING MOULDS IN THEMANUFAC- T BE 'OF POROUS LIGHT-WEIGHT CONCRETE Karl Gustav 'Olsson,S'olna, Sweden, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Casius CorporationLimited, Montreal, Quebec, Canada This invention concerns themanufacture of porous or cellular light-weightconcrete and moreparticularly the invention relates to an apparatus especially adaptedfor the removal of the upper expansion layer formed in open castingmoulds in the production of such concrete, after the expansion of theconcrete has finished and it has assumed a plastic form that can be cut.The apparatus is, however, also applicable to other purposes such as theformation of grooves on the upper side of a light-weight concrete bodywhich is lying in a casting mould.

As is well-known, porouslight-weight concrete or cellular concretebodies are manufactured from a mass containing porosity producing agentsin the form of gasdeveloping or foam-producing substances, which massafter it has been cast is allowed to expand in the mould which resultsin a considerable increase of the volume of the mass. Even if it weretheoretically possible to balance or adjust the quantity of the masspoured into the mould in such away that after expansion the mould wouldbe filled up to a predetermined level, this would be very difficult tocarry out in practice. When casting light-weight concrete in openmoulds, therefore, it is customary to pour so much of the mass into themould that it rises a few millimetres above the edges of the mouldduring expansion. The upper expansion layer must then be removed in someway or other to enable the finished light-weight concrete body to attainthe desired dimensions, and this work which hitherto has always beencarried out manually and with primitive implements, has beentime-consuming, heavy and unpleasant. To facilitate the work it has alsobeen practiced to remove the upper expansion layer before the mass hadattained its cheeselike plastic state in which it could be cut. However,this has often resulted in the damaging of the relatively soft mass whencutting away the surface layer, and for this reason Waste of the producthas often occurred.

The present invention has for its object to mechanize the process ofremoving the upper expansion layer from open light-Weight concretemoulds, whereby it is primarily rendered possible to delay the removalof the said upper expansion layer until the cast mass has assumed aplastic form that can be cut. The mass is then no longer pasty and theupper expansion layer after it has been cut ofi, can be broken intopieces which can be transported away relatively easily.

The apparatus according to. the invention mainly comprises a tablepivotally suspended to be tiltable around its longitudinal axis, onwhich table the casting mould is adapted to be placed and which isprovided with rail tracks fora truck which is movable in thelongitudinal direction of the table, said truck carrying aknife which atent Ofiice 2,896,298 Patented July 28, 1959 extends across the table andover the mould and is of such a width and shape that on the tilting ofthe table, it can serve as a chute for transporting the upper expansionlayer cut off on the movement of the truck, to one (the lower) side ofthe cutting table.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention resides inthe novel arrangement and combination of parts and in the details ofconstruction and process of manufacture hereinafter described andclaimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment ofthe invention herein described may be made within the scope of What isclaimed without departing from the spirit of the invention. It will befurtherunderstood that my invention is susceptible of embodiment in manyand various forms, some of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, and that the structural de-= tailsor particular steps of themethod herein set forth may be varied to suit particular purposes andstill remain within my inventive concept.

Other characteristic features of the invention will appear from thefollowing description of a preferred embodiment of the apparatus whichis by way of example shown in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an apparatus according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an endView of the same apparatus showing in dotted lines the table supportingthe casting mould in a horizontal position and in full lines the tablein the inclined working position;

Fig. 4 illustrates diagrammaticelly the procedure when cutting in onedirection with the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 3; and

Fig. 5 illustrates diagrammatically the procedure when cutting in theother direction with the same apparatus.

As may be seen from the drawings, theapparatus comprises a table 1 whichby means of end members 2 is pivotally suspended in two supports 3 whichproject upwards from the floor so that the table can pivot around theshaft-ends 4 located above the surface of the table 1 and runningsubstantially centrally in relation to the Width of the table. Thelongitudinal sides of the table are formed by two parallel I-girders 5placed on edge which extend beyond the supports 3 for some distance ateach end of the table 1.

The I-girders 5 form running tracks for a truck 6 which extendstransversely under the table 1 and is provided on either side of thelatter with two wheels 7 which run on the lower, outer flanges of theI-girders 5. The truck 6 carries an electric motor 8 under the table,which drives a transversely moving synchronizing shaft 9 which in turn,through gear transmission, drives pinions10 mounted at each side of thetruck between the wheels 7, the said pinions cooperating with a gearrack 11 fixed on the. underside of each I-girder 5 at the upper, outerflange thereof, respectively. Thus, with the help of the motor 8, thetruck 6 can be moved along the table 1 and this movement can take placeindependently of the inclined position of the table 1 as the truck isguided at the sides by flanges on the wheels 7 and furthermore, it isstabilized by the fact that the wheels 7 run against an upturned surfacewhereas the pinions 10 act against a turned-down surface on the table.

The truck 6 is provided with end members 6 which project upwards on eachside of the table 1 and the light-Weight concrete casting mould 12placed thereon.

by gravity to lie against supporting studs 13 arranged along one sideedge of the table. The end members 6 serve as supports for a kniferunning transversely over the mould 12, said knife consisting of a metalplate 15 equipped with downwardly directed end members 14, one edge ofthe said metal plate being formed to provide a cutting edge 16. The endmembers 14 are substantially triangular and are pivotally mounted attheir lower ends on pins 17 on the outer sides of the end members '6' ofthe truck. Each end member 14 is provided with an arm 14' projectingbeyond the cutting edge 16 of the plate 15, and between these arms 14',a cutting wire 18 is stretched to run somewhat in front of the edge 16as best seen in Fig. 1. This cutting wire 18 serves to cut away theupper expansion layer slightly in front of the point at which it isbroken upwards by the plate 15, thus preventing damage to the cut upperside of the lightweight concrete body.

Each end member 14 is provided, in addition, with a lug 19 bent inwardsthrough which an adjusting screw 20 is threaded. This adjusting screw 20rests with its point against each end member 6 of the truck 6. By meansof these adjusting screws 20 the plate 15 can be ad-. justed in such away that the cutting edge 16 and the cutting wire 18 can be held at thedesired height above the table 1 during the cutting operation when theedge 16 is turned down towards the upper side of the casting mould 12.

The position of the knife is thus independent of the height of the sidemembers of the mould, which permits the cutting of the cast mass abovethe upper edges of the mould, if necessary to obtain the desireddimension of the light-weight concrete body.

The opposite side edge of the plate 15 is provided with groove-shapedprojections 22 by means of which grooves 23 can be cut in thelight-weight concrete body present in the casting mould when the truck 6is returned to its initial position after the upper expansion layer hasbeen removed by moving the truck from right to left in Fig. 2. Duringthe latter operation the projections 22 are kept raised by theinclination of the plate 15, but when cutting grooves the plate 15 isswung over in the opposite direction so that the projections 22 engagein the contents of the casting mould 12 while the edge 16 and cuttingwire 18 are kept raised. When the projections 22 are lowered theirheight can be regulated by means of screws 24 corresponding to theadjusting screws 20, at each end member 14 on the knife.

The plate 15 has an appreciable width so that, during the cuttingprocess which is first undertaken after the table 1 and casting mould 12have been pivoted to the inclined position shown by full lines in Fig.3, the said plate can serve as a chute for the material cut oif toenable the latter to be conveyed away automatically in the transversedirection of the table 1. As it is necessary to keep the inclination ofthe plate 15 as small as possible however, to prevent damage to the masslying underneath in the casting mould in the casting operation, it mightbe possible that the moment of velocity for the cut material to continueto move more or less straight across the knife would be greater than themoment of velocity in the direction toward the lower end of the knifedue to gravity. As a result, the cut material could easily becomedeposited again on the clean-cut mass in the mould 12, which would beundesirable. To prevent this, a pivoted arm 25 is mounted at each of theend members 14 of the knife, and, at the upper ends of these arms whichproject above the plate 15, a diverting vane 26 is pivotally mountedinsuch a way that when cutting in one direction it can assume the positionshown in full lines in Fig. 2, while when cutting in the other directionit is swung over to the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2.The eifect of this can be most clearly seen from Figs. 4 and in whichthe diverting vane 26 is shown in its respective positions for thedifierent cutting operations. The diverting vane 26 thus guides thematerial to the side down the plate 15 in either direction of travel oftruck 6. Stopping devices 27 on the end members 14 limit the pivotalmovement of the arms and it is obvious that the diverting vane 26, owingto its pivoted mounting at the upper ends of the arms 25, can so adjustitself that it always rests with its lower edge against the plate 15.

Since in most cases it is unsuitable to place the upper expansion layercut off from the casting mould 14 on the floor of the locality where theapparatus is installed, a truck 28 may advantageously be employed forcollectingthe material falling from the plate 15. The truck 28, whichmay, if required, run on rails or the like laid on the floor, isprovided on its side turned towards the table 1 with a yoke-shapeddriving member 29 which is caused to engage with a hooked projection 30on one end 6' of the truck 6 when the table 1 is pivoted into itsinclined position. In this way the truck 28 and the truck 6 are coupledto one another so that the truck 28 follows the reciprocating movementsof the truck 6.

The pivoting of the table 1 is effected by means of a hydraulic orpneumatic jack 31 which is mounted between the floor and one end part ofthe I-girder 5 projecting in front of the table 1 and located furthestaway from the path of movement of the truck 28.

The invention is obviously not restricted to the detail arrangementsshown in the form of construction of the example but may be variedwithin wide limits. Thus,

the knife may be provided with a straight edge and cutting wires on bothsides for example, if it is not desired to form grooves on the upperside of the cast body. The driving of the truck 6 may be effected insome other manner, for example by means of gear racks 11 mounted on theundersides of the I-girders. The table 1 may be pivoted to the inclinedposition by hand with the help of a crank, for example, and the knifemay be fixed, or pivotally mounted on the truck 6 in some other mannerthan that illustrated and described.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for the removal of the upper expansion layer from opencasting moulds in the manufacture of porous lightweight concrete,comprising a casting mould, means pivotally mounting said casting mouldfor tilting around its longitudinal axis, truck means mounted fortilting movement along with said casting mould, means connected to saidtruck means for moving said truck means independently of and in thelongitudinal direction of said casting mould, and a knife mounted onsaid truck means and extending over and transverse to the pivotal axisof said casting mould, said knife being of a width and shape that on thetilting of said mould, said knife serves as a chute for transporting theupper expansion layer, cut off on the movement of said truck means, tothe lower side of said mould when tilted.

2. An apparatus for the removal of the upper expansion layer from opencasting moulds in the manufacture of porous lightweight concrete,comprising a table pivotally suspended to be tiltable around itslongitudinal axis, said table being tiltable in the range of zero tosaid tilting being performed for the purpose of providing an elevationfor a severed upper portion of the main body of the expanded, porous,light-weight concrete, a casting mould mounted on said table formovement therewith, tracks carried by said table and extendinglongitudinally thereof, a truck mounted on said tracks for movement inthe longitudinal direction of said table, a knife mounted on said truckand extending across said table and over and transverse to the pivotalaxis of said casting mould, said knife being of a width and shape thaton the tilting of said table, said knife serves as a chute fortransporting the upper expansion layer cutoff on the movement of saidtruck, to the lower side of said cutting table when tilted.

3. An apparatus for the removal of the upper expansion porouslight-weight concrete, comprising a table pivotally suspended to betiltable around its longitudinal axis, a castingmouldmounted on saidtable for movement therewith, tracks carried by said table and extendinglongitudinally thereof, a truck. mounted on said tracks for movement inthe longitudinal direction of the table, a knife pivotally mounted onsaid truck to swing about a transverse axis in relation ,to said tableand extending across ,said table and over said casting mould, said knifebeing of a width and shape that on the tilting of said table, said knifeserves as a chute for transporting the upper expansion layer cut 01f onthe movement of said truck, to the lower side of said cutting table whentilted.

4. An apparatus for the removal of the upper expansion layer from opencasting moulds in the manufacture of porous light-weight concrete,comprising a table pivotally suspended to be tiltable around itslongitudinal axis, a casting mould mounted on said table for movementtherewith, tracks carried by said table and extending longitudinallythereof, a truck mounted on said tracks for movement in the longitudinaldirection of the table, a knife, means mounting said knife on said truckfor extension across said table and over and transverse to the pivotalaxis of said casting mould with height of the cutting edge of said kniferelatively adjustable with respect to said mould, said knife being of awidth and shape that on the tilting of said table, said knife serves asa chute for transporting the upper expansion layer cut off on themovement of said truck, to the lower side of said cutting table whentilted.

5. An apparatus for the removal of the upper expansion layer from opencasting moulds in the manufacture of porous light-weight concrete,comprising a table pivotally suspended to be tiltable around itslongitudinal axis, a casting mould mounted on said table for movementtherewith, tracks carried by said table and extending longitudinallythereof, a truck mounted on said tracks for movement in the longitudinaldirection of said table, a knife mounted on said truck and extendingacross said table and over and transverse to the pivotal axis of saidcasting mould, said knife being flat and having a double edge and of awidth and shape that on the tilting of said table, said knife serves asa chute for transporting the upper expansion layer cut off on themovement of said truck, to the lower side of said cutting table whentilted, and said knife being provided with a diverting vane projectingfrom the plane of said knife for preventing the upper expansion layerwhich is cut off by said knife from passing thereover and back down tothe cast mass in said mould behind said knife during the cuttingoperation.

6. An apparatus for the removal of the upper expansion layer from opencasting moulds in the manufacture of porous light-weight concrete,comprising a table pivotally suspended to be tiltable around itslongitudinal axis, a casting mould mounted on said table for movementtherewith, a pair of tracks carried by said table and extendinglongitudinally thereof, one track at either side of said table,respectively, a truck mounted on said pair of tracks by means of wheelscooperating therewith for movement in the longitudinal direction of saidtable, a driving motor carried by said truck and drivingly connectedwith at least one of said wheels, a knife mounted on said truck andextending across said table and over and transverse to the pivotal axisof said casting mould, said knife being of a width and shape that on thetilting of said table, said knife serves as a chute for transporting theupper expansion layer cut off on the movement of said truck, to thelower side of said cutting table when tilted.

7. An apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said tracks compriseracks and at least one of said wheels at each trackcomprises a pinion inmeshing engagement with a respective one of said racks and the drivingconnection from said motor is mechanically linked to at least said twopinions for synchronously driving the same.

8. An apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein fluid- .3 operated jackmeans cooperate withthe table for tilting the same.

9. An apparatus for the removal of the upper expansion layer from .opencasting moulds in the manufacture of porous light-weight concrete,comprising a table pivotally suspended to be tiltable around itslongitudinal axis, a casting mould mounted on said table formovement'therewith, tracks carried by said table and extending.longitudinally thereof, atruck, mounted on said tracksfor movement inthe longitudinal. direction. of saidjtable, a knife mounted on, saidtruck and, extending across said table and over said casting mould, saidknife mounted transverse to the pivotal axis of said mould andcomprising a metal plate of a width and shape that on the tilting ofsaid table said knife serves as a chute for transporting the upperexpansion layer cut off on the movement of said truck to the lower sideof the cutting table when tilted, and a cutting wire stretched in frontof the forward edge of said knife as reckoned by the cutting direction.

10. An apparatus for the removal of the upper expansion layer from opencasting moulds in the manufacture of porous light-weight concrete,comprising a table pivotally suspended to be tiltable around itslongitudinal axis, a casting mould mounted on said table for movementtherewith, tracks carried by said table and extending longitudinallythereof, a truck mounted on said tracks for movement in the longitudinaldirection of said table, a knife movably mounted on said truck andextending across said table and over and transverse to the pivotal axisof said casting mould, said knife being of a width and shape that on thetilting of said table, it serves as a chute for transporting the upperexpansion layer cut off on the movement of said truck, to the lower sideof said cutting table when tilted, and means for tilting said knife ineither of two directions with respect to the top of said casting mouldwhereby an edge may be presented in cutting angle relationship to a massin said mould.

11. An apparatus for the removal of the upper expansion layer from opencasting moulds in the manufacture of concrete, comprising a tablepivotally suspended to be tiltable around its longitudinal axis, acasting mould mounted on said table for movement therewith, trackscarried by said table and extending longitudinally thereof, a truckmounted on said tracks for movement in the longitudinal direction ofsaid table, a knife movably mounted on said truck and extending oversaid table and over and transverse to the pivotal axis of said castingmould, said knife being of a width and shape that, on the tilting ofsaid table, it serves as a chute for transporting the layer, cut off onthe movement of said truck, to the lower side of said cutting table whentilted, and means for tilting said knife in a direction with respect tothe top of said casting mould whereby an edge may be presented incutting angle relationship to a massin said mould.

12. An apparatus as set forth in claim 10 wherein said knife isdouble-edged and one edge of the double-edged knife is straight whilethe other is shaped to cut grooves in the cast mass.

13. An apparatus for the removal of the upper expansion layer from opencasting moulds in the manufacture of porous light-weight concrete,comprising a table pivotally suspended to be tiltable around itslongitudinal axis, a casting mould mounted on said table for movementtherewith, tracks carried by said table and extending longitudinallythereof, a truck mounted on said tracks for movement in the longitudinaldirection of said table, a knife mounted on said truck and extendingacross said table and over and transverse to the pivotal axis of saidcasting mould, said knife being of a width and shape that on the tiltingof the table, it serves as a chute for transporting the upper expansionlayer cut off on the movement of said truck, to the lower side of saidcutting table when tilted, a movable collecting truck, and means mountedon said first truck for engaging said collecting: truck when said tableis tilted and causing said collecting truck to 7 8 move along with saidfirst truck for the purpose of col1ect- 2,261,807 Friederichsen Nov; 4,1941 ingthe material removed from the casting mass by said 2,295,155Brown et a1 Sept. 8, 1942 knife and moving therealong. V v 7 2,522,116Hayes Sept. 12, 1950 5 2,7 a1 1 References Cited in the file of thispatent 77,184 Monk 6t 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS V FOREIGN PATENTS a346,931 Martin Aug. 10, 1886 159,597 Great Britain Feb. 28, 1921 867,852Switzer et a1 Oct. 8, 1907- 505,095 Germany Aug. 14, 1930 923,853 Kem1ell June 8, 1909 10 53,176 Netherlands Sept. 15, 1942 1,523,830 N0rt0nJan. 20, 1925 498,740 Belgium Feb. 15, 1951 2,061,497 Beauchamp Nov. 17,1936

